Pickup Review: 2009 Suzuki Equator

2009 Suzuki Equator

Handout, Suzuki

New frontier for small truck

by
Anne Proffit, Canwest News Service | August 10, 2011

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Suzuki has produced a pickup truck. Kinda. There is a big “S” on the matte black egg-crate grille to announce the vehicle’s entrance, and there are Suzuki logos throughout, but this is a cloned truck made from the underpinnings of the Nissan Frontier. With no apologies.

It’s a rugged piece of machinery – just like the Nissan – and has a bigger tow rating than its donor (maxing out at 2,948 kilos or 6,500 lbs). The 2009 Suzuki Equator walks like a Frontier, talks like a Frontier and possesses the genealogy of a Nissan Frontier. This is not a bad thing for Suzuki or for Nissan.

Suzuki figured out that most of the customers who purchased its motorcycles, ATVs, outboard motors and dirt bikes use a pickup truck to transport those vehicles. Why not give them a truck with the Suzuki nameplate?

The 2009 Suzuki Equator – yeah, you can probably see the equator from the driver’s seat – is made on the same production line as the Nissan Frontier in Smyrna, Tennessee. There are little detail changes that make the Equator stand apart from the Frontier, and the result is a good package – better than I had hoped for.

There’s an easy step-in of 505 mm (19.9 inches) and in the configuration used for this review, 2WD Crew Cab Sport with standard body-on-frame ladder type chassis, the Equator stretches 5,245 mm (206.5 inches) long (with the standard five-foot bed), spans 1,849 mm (72.8 inches) wide and stands 1,780 mm (70.1 inches) tall. Wheelbase is 3,198 mm (125.9 inches) and base curb weight is 1,927 kilos (4,248 pounds) with 55/45-weight distribution. First off, it’s important to know that this truck is US-specified, or in other words an Equator so equipped cannot be purchased in Canada. The Equator sold north of the 49th comes only one way, fully loaded with four doors, a V6 engine and five-speed automatic gearbox and 4×4 drive system. Suzuki’s Canadian team researched its market and doesn’t believe there’s room for a more basic work truck, so it’s top of the line or nothing at all.

Suzuki/Nissan uses speed sensitive rack-and-pinion power steering for this truck, and there are 3.55 turns lock to lock with a turning circle of 13.3 meters (43.58 feet). Front suspension is independent and uses Bilstein high performance dampers with stabilizer bar; there are overslung multi-leaf springs at the rear, again with Bilstein dampers and stabilizer bar. Suzuki uses BF Goodrich radial Long Trail TA P265/65R rubber riding on five-spoke polished 17-inch alloy rims to keep the big truck stable over the road.

Motive power for this particular Liquid Metal metallic (with graphite cloth) Equator comes from the preferred 4-litre DOHC aluminum V6, longitudinally mounted in the heavy hood enclosure (that is posted). The engine produces 261 horsepower at 5,600 rpm with 281-lb-ft of torque coming on at 4,000 rpm. Suzuki uses a five-speed automatic transmission that does not offer sport-shifting capabilities. The EPA has rated the Equator as a ULEV-spec vehicle, meeting federal Tier 2, Bin 5 requirements. In the US, Suzuki offers a thrifty four-cylinder model, but not so in Canada, so fuel misers need to go elsewhere.

What about the V6-powered Suzuki Equator’s fuel mileage? Well, this is a truck and it’s not the greatest in this respect, although not bad considering the girth of the Crew Cab machine. EnerGuide rates the 2009 Equator at 14.4 / 10.4 L/100 km city/hwy from its 79.9-litre (21.1-gallon) tank, using regular unleaded. Enthusiastic driving both over the road and around town yielded equivalent figures from this driver.

The pair of bucket seats for the front occupants has good inherent lumbar support, while the rear passengers are treated to a very upright bench seat with headrests for two of those three riders. There are pullout cupholders at the rear of the central storage area.

The front seats are comfortable and do have sufficient support to hold the driver and passenger in place on rough roads, as the Equator handles undulations as one would expect: in a “trucky” manner. It’s not smooth without ballast in the back, but that’s to be expected. The passenger seat folds flat and the rear seats can be folded as well.

In front of the driver lie black gauges with white numbers and red pointers, including analog battery and oil pressure readouts in addition to the normal fuel and water temp gauges. All are easy to see from the driver’s seat and do not wash out in direct sunlight. The speedometer on this US-spec version maxed out at 140 mph while redline for the Equator is 6,250 rpm; 80 mph (129 km/h) equals 2,300 rpm, so there’s plenty of grunt to spare.

The heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems are easy to work with; the audio has presets that go back and forth between AM and FM so one needs to press the band desired in order to go to that preset. There is a single CD player and no satellite wiring on the 2WD Crew Cab Equator as tested (this comes standard in Canada). The audio system is good, but not great.

There are satin accents about the Equator’s gray interior that add a little pizzazz to the austere and workman-like cabin. A deep centre storage console contains a 12-volt plug together with coin and business card holders. There are good cupholders in the central area behind the shift lever and in each of the four doors.

Suzuki fits a full complement of airbags to enhance passive safety: front, side and curtain bags are standard on all Equator models, as is a tire pressure monitoring system attached to the valve stems. ABS brakes with electronic brake distribution and active two-wheel traction control are standard on this truck as well.

The Equator’s cargo bed has excellent spray-on liner and a track type tie-down system with four cleats on both the floor and side of the enclosure. There are rope hooks inside the bed and a centre-rear gate handle with a lock. The liftgate is detachable for extra long loads. The bed enclosure is well finished and appears to be sufficiently rugged. Suzuki equipped this truck to handle any and all of its off-road and personal entertainment vehicles, with clips, sliding rails and rugged liner.

Considering the amount of standard equipment (remote keyless entry, power windows/doors, air conditioning and CD-based audio system, and the list goes on and on), the price of the 2009 Suzuki Equator isn’t bad at all at $33,795 plus $1,550 destination fees. This truck is sturdy and well made, with seams that match up extremely well and four doors that clunk with authority when closed.

While the 2009 Suzuki Equator is, essentially a Nissan Frontier, it does offer fans of the Suzuki brand the opportunity to buy a Suzuki vehicle to haul their Suzuki vehicles.

At a time when midsize trucks of this type are languishing on lots, it is easy to second-guess Suzuki’s rationale for making this deal with Nissan. On the other hand, with the Equator’s good looks and full load of features, someone who might have looked at the Nissan might take a further glance toward Suzuki and buy the clone. Suzuki hopes that this mindset prevails.Specifications (2009 Suzuki Equator):